In Argentina’s delicate post-crisis economic landscape, inflation targeting isn’t the answer, central bank policy needs to reflect the transitional phase of the Argentine economy, says Martín Redrado.
The US’s largest lender to college students, Sallie Mae (formally known as SLM Corporation) has agreed to be acquired by JPMorgan, Bank of America and private equity funds JC Flowers and Friedman Fleischer & Lowe for $25bn.
In an effort to boost Japan’s financial system and its capital as a financial centre, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, has announced plans to relax the rules that separate banking and broking businesses.
A trickle of private equity activity in the financial institutions space is threatening to become a flood, with prime assets becoming targets. Geraldine Lambe reports.
With a new formula and an enlarged pool of participants, Deals of the Year 2007 has for the first time declared a global winner and five regional winners from the pick of the deals in 85 countries around the world. Both international and local banks have brought an extraordinary wealth of deals to the attention of The Banker’s judges. The next pages are dedicated to the well deserved accolades.
Morgan Stanley’s co-head of securities sales and trading, Neal Shear, explains why the firm reorganised the structure of its institutional securities, and the effect his role heading the trading division will have on risk taking. Kathryn Tully reports.
A surge of new offerings are coming out of central and eastern Europe, with Russia and Kazakhstan showing the new EU countries how it should be done. Michael Marray reports.
Observers see the lack of Asian participation in dollar deals as a temporary blip, due largely to current conditions. However, European bankers are still keen to cultivate investment from Asia. Michael Marray reports.
When a merger fell through last autumn, mining company Freeport-McMoRan was undeterred. It has just bought a rival and issued the world’s biggest junk bond to pay for it. Edward Russell-Walling explains.
Expect Europe to be the major arena of interest in the capital markets over the next five to 10 years. Underwriting fees are two to three times higher in the US but growth prospects are far better in Europe.
Capital markets to reach European levels if current low investment rates continue. Asian Development Bank’s Outlook 2007 notes that 10 years after the region’s crisis, growth rates are still not back to pre-crisis levels in the countries worst affected: Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
Information is essential to the finance business – but sometimes it can weigh heavy. The UK’s Post Office was so worried about the weight of HSBC’s annual report that it limited the number that an individual postman could carry, to avoid back injuries.
Helping to ease the information flow for banks are companies such as Experian, which share credit data between them – a service that used to be held in rather low esteem by consumer groups and politicians but is increasingly recognised as a respectable activity.
Structured products are a result of investors becoming moresophisticated and demanding. Now banks are happy to tailor investments to meet a client’s every wish. Joanne Hart reports.
Sharia-compliant investing and structured products are two of the largest and highest margin growth areas for investment banks. Both are born out of specialist structuring teams, rich with fiscal and regulatory experts, so it is almost inevitable that compliant structured products are fast becoming voguish. Natasha de Terán explores the market.
Natasha de Terán explores the market for structured property products and finds real estate investment trusts becoming popular and the derivatives market gathering steam.
Banks are devising structured products for private banking clients that are more diverse than they previously were but still have an element of protection. Michael Marray investigates.
The European Commission is reviewing pre-trade and post-trade transparency in the bond market. Frances Maguire asks if the bond market’s self regulation could prevent mandatory transparency requirements, similar to the equities market.
Portugal is making a comeback after recession, although recent cuts in deficits have not yet been enough to win over rating agencies, writes Peter Wise.
Portugal’s prime minister, José Sócrates, talks to Brian Caplen and Peter Wise about his priorities for the EU presidency and his determination to ‘build Portugal into a modern country’ fully equipped to compete in the global economy.
Financial groups are expanding abroad – not just in international M&A but also into new areas such as project finance and debt issuance. Peter Wise reports.
The world’s wealthy are increasingly seeking to put their money into philanthropic causes, and financial institutions are finding ways of helping them give their money away, writes Silvia Pavoni.
The Greek economy is beating expectations, sweeping away fears of a post-Olympics slowdown. Kerin Hope reports on a boom in the shipping industry, the trend in infrastructure improvements and banks’ survival strategies.
Greek bankers are confident that the credit sector will continue to expand as the country catches up with its European partners. Kerin Hope reports on developments in a still underbanked country.
Bourse operator Hellenic Exchanges has cut trading fees on the Athens exchange and is developing links with other exchanges in the region in its bid for a competitive edge. By Kerin Hope.
The Russian banking sector is more closely resembling those of developed markets, as it focuses on building up profits from fee income. But banks face the thorny issue of how to obtain capital to sustain their remarkable growth. Brian Caplen reports.
The Bank of Georgia’s oversubscribed London IPO epitomised Georgia’s drive towards catching up with the rest of the world. Ben Aris reports from Tbilisi on how chairman Lado Gurgenidze turned the bank around.
Shamshad Akhtar, governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, talks to Jules Stewart about the influence of the US macroeconomy on Pakistan’s economic landscape and the importance for the developing world in keeping open this window to the West.
Thailand seemed to be ushering in a golden age of financial security, until high-level political scandal and terrorist attacks sent its fragile economy crashing back down to earth. Simon Montlake reports.
Peru is the new darling of investors and has recently enjoyed a handful of rating upgrades. Its policy of promoting growth while keeping inflation under control is slowly paying off, reports John Rumsey.
Jason Mitchell reports from Buenos Aires on moves to set up a South American development bank, which are being led by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.
In the second of our regular series looking at banking in the future, The Banker ponders what retail front and back offices will look like in 2015. Stephen Timewell explains the changes.
Interchange fees are a thorny issue at the best of times, and banks insisting on their necessity if innovation is to happen receive short shrift from consumers. Is there a happy medium? Wendy Atkins reports.
The sky is the limit when it comes to the power of the chip – and size is certainly everything. Imagine a device as big as a flea that carries a complete biometric identity management system of your clients. By Chris Skinner.
The US government wants to impose cost basis reporting on the investment industry to make it easier to determine how much capital gains tax investors owe on their securities. Michael Imeson reports.
